Wine Scores

Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.

Allen Meadows - Burghound

Connoisseurs Guide

Gambero Rosso

James Halliday

James Suckling

Malt Advocate

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

International Wine Cellar

Wine & Spirits

Wine Enthusiast

Wine Spectator

The Wine News

Malt Advocate

Shop By:

K&L Email Alerts

Sign up to receive custom alerts, new arrivals and the latest happenings from K&L
Wines

Customer Reviews -
KLF

KLF

12 year customer of K&L, a serious amateur wine drinker. Passionate about finding value wines that trump the bigger brands of their class. Love all things Rhone, Piedmont, Chianti, Spain and the up-and-comers of California.

Reviews

What is it about Spanish tempranillo that is often better on day 2 or 3? This is yet another example. but let me state my preference biases before I go any further: I do NOT appreciate the modern, Parkerized versions of value wines from Spain. If they trade terroir for higher alcohol and fruit bomby-ness, I'm gone. So imagine my disdain when I opened this wine and nosed a New World take on Ribera del Duero...and I promptly put a cork in it and let it sit for a day...then two.... On day two, the wine found its terroir and became the wine that the K&L guys are talking about. For $13, an excellent value. For $25, skip it and talk to K&L's John Majeski about what's on his mind lately.

Tried this at the Southern Rhone tasting a month back, and thought it too early to tell what we really have here. Hat's off to Montfaucon for leveraging an awesome vintage to roll back to an old style. I think K&L staff is overly enamored with Montfaucon in general, as it is with Cos d' Estournel. But certainly, this is a beautiful, unique wine, and one to put away just to see what it gives in 5+ years. But should you buy this in place of other promising 07 Southern Rhones? I say buy one now and try it to see if it's your thing, and if so, buy for the cellar.

Best value pinot noir under $10 (club = $9) in the K&L house and perhaps the country right now. It's light/medium, but balanced. I did not get the challenged midpalate that others are talking about. It trumps anything that the U.S. can produce at this price, and is much more a classic pinot than K&L's staff pick, Undone (from Germany, which I do not like at all).

Score based on my opinion of quality to price. This is a stunner on the value front. I agree with Parrker, and Jauques at K&L -- it's a non-typical CdR white blend from Guigal, but they got this blend right. Every white drinker should find something to love in this (assuming they like viognier), and Rhone lovers will make this their house white as long as the case lasts.

Tried two bottles from two different purchases. Quality varies from bottle to bottle, hence I think they set the price at $7 so you can afford to have a few bad ones in a case and not be irate with the shop. But I just gotta say to K&L - please be transparent about some of these wines you are selling off. If there are quality inconsistencies, just say so, or else don't sell the lot of wine to begin with. We can go to Grocery Outlet if we want to play roulette with low cost wine.

We can thank the recession for bringing some of these Napa greats down to reasonable price levels for awhile. I always have serious reservations about Cali Bordeaux blends in the $50 range. Byt at the $29.99 price, this wine makes much more sense from a quality-to-price perspective.

I tried the $15 and $20 Fortunas from 2007. Only on the second day of being open (!!) did I start to recognize what the K&L staffers raved about in these wines...but honestly I don't think there is a ton to gush about... That said, the 2007 rosso from Poggiarellino is something I like much, much more.

Score based on my opinion of quality to price. Wow. 2008 was a spotty vintage for pinot noir on the South Island. But this Sherwood is amazing! This is my #1 recommendation right now for pinot noir under $15, trumping A to Z from Oregon. Great fruit, great balance, and a solid dose of minerality that Burgundy drinkers will appreciate. For a denser, darker-fruited wine in this genre, look at Quartz Reef 2006 for $19.

What a beauty, and what a price. Is there a better value for classic Anderson Valley pinot noir? At a dinner party of 10, we tried 4 pinots from K&L, and the Jim Ball placed #1 or 2 on everyone's list. FYI - the other consistent winner Quartz Reef 2006 from New Zealand.

The quality to price ratio is very high on this one. I have had many reds rom the Ribera region at twice the cost that I didn't like as much as this one. Word to the wise - let this guy breathe for an hour or two before serving. Until then, the fruit doesn't really show.

(Score based on my quality to price ratio.) At $20, you are paying $5 for the brand and $15 for the wine when I compare it to other value-priced pinot gris in Central Otago. This wine is a great example of South Island NZ pinot gris. So if you like it, I urge you to look further for lesser known names in the region. That said, what's great about Otago pinot gris is a strong minerality in these wines not often found anywhere else besides Alsace.

(Score based on my quality to price ratio at $24 club price). Wow, this one is simply gorgeous and drinking well right now. One of the great values of Marche, and the perfect montepulciano to share with your friends who can't seem to kick their California cab, syrah or zin habits. Hey - I love Cali wines when the value is right, but in the $24 class, there aren't many American reds that can compete with this Poderi San Lazzaro.

(Score based on quality to price ratio.) Having just returned from New Zealand, it's no surprise to me that K&L's Kalinda line features a NZ pinot gris, as these wines pack the fruit+minerality that you only can get in Alsatian and Swiss names. That said, there's no other place on earth you can get these flavors in a bottle for $11. I believe pinot gris is currently the top white grape in NZ, and universally more appealing, especially to folks like me who do not appreciate the green apple and lemony flavors of the much more popular sauvingon blanc.

Why to buy this wine: because it's $20, to see what Jade Mountain is like if you've never tried it, and now with some bottle age. Why not buy? It's not that great of a wine IMHO. I poured it last Saturday with three other comparable Cali syrahs. Guest say Jade came in 4th place behind Beckman, Copain, Amphora. Me? I'll take my $20 to a St Joseph wine and skip California altogether.

Amazing value at wine club price of $12.50. This is the best Poggiarellino rosso d' that I have tried so far (of three). It is classic, old style sangiovese on a great vintage year. SUGGESTION: tannins are firm and dusty. Serve only with food...that can stand up to them, or, wait for a few years for them to calm down, which I assume they will. I'm buying a case, and going to forget about it for at least a year.